Olympia police flush rioters out of downtown Wednesday evening

OLYMPIA – The Olympia Police Department was forced to flush out a group of rioters in downtown Olympia around 9:00 pm Wednesday evening, according to scanner traffic.

Police in the area could be heard yelling “This is the Olympia Police Department, this is an unlawful assembly, you are ordered to disperse immediately!” over loudspeakers.

According to the Puget Sound Anarchists, the group organizing the protest, it was in response to OPD’s in-custody death early Wednesday morning after a chemical restraint was given to a person in crisis. The woman’s heart stopped, possibly as a result of the restraint, and she died.

The PSA’s website also accuses the driver of a pickup truck of hitting multiple protesters and the driver of a “small blue car” of pulling a gun on the group.

It is unknown if this group plans to re-assemble tonight or this weekend.